A father's 'love'
by Demonic22
Summary: Tony recieves a note and a warning from someone he thought he'd never hear from again. will it all end ok, or will it all end in tears!
1. Chapter 1

**Authors note: for anyone waiting for my supernatural story lost I'm afraid that I may or may not write it up I'm not liking it at the moment I'm afraid.**

**Anyway on to my new fic NCIS great show, this is my first attempt at an NCIS fic so I hope it goes ok**

Anthony Dinozzo stepped from his morning shower with a smile on his face, he'd just spent the night with an amazing woman and now he was able to spend the day as he pleased, god he loved Sundays. Bethany unfortunately had had a prior engagement otherwise he would have spent the day with her, luckily he had a whole bookcase full of DVDs and the weather gave him an excuse to stay inside. He made and ate breakfast, and after putting the dishes in the dishwasher he made his way to the couch for a movie marathon. As Tony walked passed his front door he noticed there was an envelope lying beside it. Maybe Bethany had left him something. He picked it up and ripped it open, paling when he read what was inside.

Anthony

I'm out and I'm angry

I know where you live and I know where you work.

Soon we shall come face to face again and believe me when I say mine will be the last face you ever see

Tony sat down his shaking hands barely holding the note, his breathing a little panicked. He's out, he's out were the only thoughts running through his mind. He can't be out. Suddenly he stood up, his eyes making their way around the room realising that he wasn't safe, that he could be being watched. Without thinking about it Tony stuffed the letter in his jeans pocket, grabbed his keys and left his apartment. He didn't know where he was going but he knew he had to go somewhere. He almost ran down the stairs and through the security doors, not noticing the rain that was pouring down on him. With the weather and it being a Sunday there wasn't really anybody around, which suited Tony just fine, no one around to ask any questions. It also meant that there was no one around to witness an assault, an assault that Tony may have been able to stop had he been more aware, or if he'd had his gun. The three men were waiting when he reached his car, grabbing him from behind before he could even get his keys out. Two of the men held him while the other attacked, hitting him wherever he could. After what seemed like hours the men let him go, causing him to crumple to the floor. The man who had hit him bent down and whispered into Tony's ear.

"Your father sends his regards and wants you to know he'll be seeing you soon. This was just a message, to keep you on your toes."


	2. Chapter 2

Leroy Jethro Gibbs was not enjoying his weekend. He wasn't one to sit around and do nothing, he like to be busy, and even working on his boat could become tiresome. He was on his third cup of coffee and it wasn't even midday. He was so bored that he was considering going into work, even if it meant doing paperwork. Just as he had decided work would probably be best there was a knock at his door. Confused as to who would be visiting him on a Sunday he approached the door cautiously.

"Who is it?"

"It's me boss," Gibbs senior field agent replied.

Wondering what Dinozzo was doing at his house he opened the door, shocked at the sight.

"Hey boss," Tony said, a slight grin appearing on his face.

"What happened Dinozzo?"

"I…. I had a little accident!"

"With someone's fists by the look of it." Gibbs exclaimed looking his agent up and down. "Come on, let's get you inside."

Gibbs carefully led Tony into his living room, and helped him sit on one of his sofas. He then sat on the coffee table in front of his agent and waited for him to speak.

"It's not as bad as it looks boss," Tony said, hoping that Gibbs wouldn't ask too many questions.

"You look like crap Dinozzo, well the hell happened?"

"It's….. it's personal."

"Don't give me that Dinozzo, you wouldn't be here if you didn't need my help."

Tony took a deep breath and looked at his boss, not expecting to find a worried look in his eyes, Gibbs never worried. He slowly reached into his pocket and took out the note handing it to Gibbs.

"This came this morning."

Gibbs took the note and unfolded it, his face remaining neutral until the end.

"Who sent this?"

"My father!"

"Did he do this?"

"No, that was his entourage, kinda big and muscley."

"I think I should take you to the hospital Dinozzo," Gibbs said after a short pause.

"No, no hospital, I'm fine."

"You not fine Tony."

"Please."

"Ok, but let me at least call Ducky, so he can check you over."

Tony nodded in agreement, stopping when the room began to spin, and watched as his boss went to use the phone.

Half an hour later Ducky arrived, and after taking one look at his colleague he began to give Gibbs a piece of his mind.

"Oh Jethro I can't believe you left him sitting there when its clear he's on the verge of catching hypothermia. Come along Anthony lets get you out of those clothes and into the shower. Then I'll take a look at you injuries."

"Sorry Duck, thought it would be best to wait for you, and Tony forgot to mention that he was cold," Gibbs replied, helping Ducky manoeuvre Tony up the stairs.

"You should know by now Jethro that Tony isn't one to tell you when something's wrong. But never mind that now, lets just get him sorted out and warmed up."

Tony remained quiet throughout the conversation much to Gibbs's concern, and he was pleased when they reached the bathroom so they could sort his young agent out.

"Would you be so kind as to find Tony some clothes to wear, something warm," Ducky asked, as he sat Tony down on the toilet seat and proceeded to undo his shirt buttons.

"Yeah Duck of course, I'll be right back."

"Oh my Anthony you have got yourself into a bit of bother haven't you," Ducky said as he removed Tony's shirt to reveal a large mass of bruising.

"It… doesn't…. hurt that… muuuch Duck," Tony replied, shivering violently now his clothes were removed.

"If it doesn't hurt now, it will in the morning. I remember when I got into a bad fight in my youth, didn't hurt one bit when I was being patched up, but as soon as I woke up the next day I was in absolute agony. I'd never been so happy when a friend of mine gave me a bottle of painkillers, they were just the thing."

Twenty minutes later Tony was asleep in the guest bedroom and Gibbs and Ducky were discussing the situation in the kitchen.

"He gonna be alright Duck?" Gibbs asked, nursing his forth cup of coffee.

"A bit sore for a few days but there's nothing broken, no serious damage. From the way he was beaten I'd say his attackers knew what they were doing, knew were to hurt him but not cause permanent damage."

"Bastards!"

"Indeed. So did Anthony give any indication as to who it might have been?"

"It was his father Duck, he was the one responsible."

"Well I knew that Anthony didn't get along with his father, but I never imagined this would happen."

"He sent him this," Gibbs said, handing over the note Tony had shown him.

"Oh my, what can we do?"

"Not a lot, the note's typed and it's not signed, there's no proof that his father sent that. And we only have Tony's word that the guys who attacked him are working with his father."

"Oh dear," Ducky exclaimed, looking over at his old friend. "I'm sure you're not going to leave it at that though."

"Hell no, I'll get this to Abby, see if she can get anything from it, and in the meantime I'm gonna keep a close eyes on Dinozzo. If his father thinks he's gonna hurt him then he can think again."


	3. Chapter 3

Tony awoke the next morning feeling exactly how Dr Mallard had said he would, and he had a hard time dragging himself out of bed. He headed for the bathroom to relieve himself and was deciding if he should have a shower when he realised he wouldn't have any clothes to change into afterwards. Knowing he'd have to go back to his apartment he decided to wait and shower and change when he got there. Instead of showering he made his way downstairs, entering the kitchen to find his boss sitting at the table coffee in one hand newspaper in the other.

"Morning boss."

Gibbs looked up and looked his agent over, noticing that he looked worse than he had the day before. "Morning Dinozzo, you sleep ok?"

"Fine, is there any coffee left?"

"Help yourself," Gibbs replied, watching how stiffly Tony was walking. "You've got ten minutes to have something to eat and then we're heading out. We'll drop by yours so you can change your clothes and then we'll head to work."

"Work?" Tony questioned. "I'm surprised you want me to go into work, I don't know how much use I'll be."

"Well I'm not leaving you at home by yourself, so you'll have to come to work so I can keep an eye on you."

"I'll be ok."

"We're going, so quit arguing."

Tony nodded and poured himself some coffee, praying that Gibbs had creamer, he then put some toast on and waited till it was ready.

"So Dinozzo, you gonna tell me what happened?" Gibbs asked after Tony had sat down.

"I told you."

"You told me that your father is angry at you and wants you dead, you never said why!"

"Just before I left for good when I was sixteen I decided to do some digging. I knew that my father was into some dodgy things and I wanted to get the proof so I could stop him. After I left I continued digging, found out all I could and put together a lot of information. As soon as I became a cop I realised I had more ways to find out information, and after about a year and a half I had enough evidence gathered, so I went to my captain and handed it to him. He looked it over and after giving me a few curious looks he told me that it was a matter for the FBI and he'd get in touch with them. They took on the case and it eventually went to trial, with me as the key witness. Lets just say my father wasn't a happy man. He was sentenced to eighteen years, and when he was taken away he gave me one of his looks. His you'll pay for this look."

Tony paused to take a few breaths and to see what Gibbs's reaction was, he looked, as he always did calm, no reaction.

"I went home and I thought that it was over, I knew that when my father got out of prison he'd probably come looking for me, but I had eighteen years to prepare for it. Anyway I went to work the next day, caught a few bad guys went for a few beers, and then when I came home there was someone waiting for me. I still don't know how they got into the apartment but they did, and I wasn't prepared for it. My reactions were a little slow from the alcohol and there were three of them. They beat me up pretty badly and told me that it wasn't over, I may have put my father in prison but he still had friends on the outside, friends that could make my life hell. I was in hospital for a week, and as soon as I got out, I left. I packed up, handed in my resignation and moved to another state. I knew that they'd probably find me, but I figured it would take them a while. This is the first time I've had a problem since that night in Peoria."

"Why didn't you tell me this Tony?" Gibbs asked after he'd taken it all in.

"I don't know, I guess I thought if I didn't talk about it then it wouldn't be real. I also didn't want people to look at me different, judge."

Gibbs sighed, a little disappointed that Tony hadn't trusted him. There was silence as both men finished their breakfast, and then Gibbs took his and Tony's things to the sink.

"Come on Dinozzo, time to go."

Forty minutes later they arrived at the bullpen to find Kate at her desk but no one else around. Kate glanced up as she heard someone approaching but didn't get a good look at her partner.

"Morning Gibbs, Tony."

"Where's McGee?" Gibbs asked.

"He's in the lab with Abby," Kate replied, looking up again. This time she looked at Tony who was leaning against his desk. "Oh my god, what happened to you?"

Tony didn't speak, not sure what to say.

"Call Ducky have him meet us in Abby's lab, follow us when you've finished," Gibbs said, heading towards the elevator, Tony at his heels.

Kate just stared at their retreating backs for a moment, not sure what was going on, she then picked up her phone and dialled Ducky's extension.

A few minutes later and they were all gathered in the lab curious to find out what they were there for. Tony leaned against the wall, wishing everyone would stop staring at him, and hoping the meeting wouldn't last long so he could go and sit down.

"First of all, Dinozzo, sit down before you fall down!" Gibbs exclaimed, knowing his senior agent was feeling the strain.

Tony did as he was told and breathed a sigh of relief when the pain subsided.

"Now I'll fill you in on what's been going on."

Tony and Gibbs had discussed what they were going to say on their way to work, Tony realised that his team members should be told the truth but didn't really want to do it himself. Gibbs had agreed to tell the team what was going on, and Tony would answer any questions they may have.

Gibbs told them how Tony had helped put his father in prison and about what happened after, he then went on to tell them what had happened the day before handing Abby the note when he mentioned it. He finished by saying, "If Dinozzo's father thinks he can get to him, then he's mistaken, we're not going to let that happen."

"Are you ok Tony?" Abby asked, going over and giving him a careful hug.

"I'm better now Abs," he replied, glad that everyone finally knew the truth.

"Ok, Abby I want you to look that note over see if you can find anything on it, print DNA, anything."

"You got it bossman."

"McGee, I want you to find out why Dinozzo's father is out of prison, he should have had at least seven more years left to serve."

"On it."

"Kate, I need you to finish up the Kellerman case, make sure everything's ready for court, I want that bastard put away for life."

"Will do."

"Ducky, do you think you can give Tony a once over, make sure he's ok?"

"Of course Jethro, come along Anthony, let's get you to autopsy so I can have a look at you."

That left Gibbs and Abby alone.

"You think we'll be able to keep Tony safe?" Abby asked, turning towards Gibbs.

"I hope so Abs, I hope so."


	4. Chapter 4

Gibbs sighed and looked around the bullpen at his team, it had been a slow day and even though they had gone over a lot of information and evidence they were still no closer to proving that Tony's father was out to get him. McGee after searching and hacking into so many databases finally found out that Mr Carlos Dinozzo had been released from prison three weeks earlier. The official report was that there had been a problem with the original evidence and that his important expensive lawyers had got him off because of it. Unofficially it looked as if there had been a mixture of bribery and blackmail, which had finally paid off with the prisoner being released. Gibbs was furious that that could happen and got straight on the phone with Fornell, seeing as it was the FBIs case. Fornell agreed that it wasn't on, and that his hands were tied, although he agreed to help in any way that he could.

"Ok everyone, I think it's time we all went home. I'll need you all in bright and early tomorrow and hopefully we'll have better luck," Gibbs said, rising from his seat and packing up his things.

"Goodnight boss," McGee said as he walked passed. "Tony."

"Night Gibbs, night Dinozzo, see you tomorrow," Kate said following McGee to the elevator.

Tony remained in his seat not wanting to go home, and not wanting to ask Gibbs if he could crash at his.

"You coming Dinozzo?" Gibbs asked walking passed his desk.

"I er… I think I'll stay here for a while boss."

"Well I'm not waiting for you!"

"Ok, night," Tony replied, a little hurt that his boss was just going to leave him.

Gibbs understanding what was wrong reached over and turned Tony's computer off, grabbed his backpack and headed towards the elevator. "Come on Dinozzo, we'll stop by yours and grab some things, then we'll head back to mine."

Tony smiled, grabbing his piece from his draw and his phone from his desk and following his boss just as the elevator doors were about to close

* * *

The next day Gibbs and Tony arrived to work first, closely followed by Kate and McGee. As Gibbs was booting up his computer the phone rang. 

"Gibbs." There was a pause as he listened to the person at the other end. "Ok, we'll be there."

"We got a case Gibbs?" Kate asked.

"Yeah, dead petty officer. McGee gas the truck, Kate call Ducky, Dinozzo come on."

Fifteen minutes later.

"McGee bag and tag, Dinozzo shoot and sketch, Kate go talk to the people who found the petty officer, see what they can tell you."

"On it boss, on it Gibbs," McGee and Kate answered, going of to do their respective jobs.

Tony however just stood staring at the body a dazed look on his face. Gibbs more focussed on the sailor only noticed the lack of movement and not the look on his senior field agents face.

"What are you waiting for Dinozzo, permission!"

Tony tore his eyes away from the body and brought the camera to his eye clicking as he moved around the area.

"What have we got Duck?" Gibbs asked, crouching down to inspect the dead sailor.

"He was beaten, quite severely from what I can tell, and then he was shot, a bullet between the eyes."

"I'm guessing that's what killed him."

"I should imagine so, but I won't know exact cause of death until I get him home."

"Time of death Duck, you can tell me that can't you."

"Of course Jethro," Ducky replied, inserting the liver probe. "Time of death was between 0200 and 0300 this morning."

"Thanks Duck."

"No problem Jethro. Come on Mr Palmer let us get the gurney and transport our young officer back home."

"Yes doctor."


	5. Chapter 5

Gibbs gave his senior field agent the once over as they rode in the elevator down to autopsy. Tony had been quiet since they'd come back from the crime scene, which was unusual, although he did have a lot on his mind. Gibbs had decided that he wouldn't approach the matter, he'd just keep an eye on him and if Tony needed to talk then he would be there when he needed him. Usually when Ducky called Jethro to tell him he had news Gibbs would come down to autopsy himself, but he'd decided to bring the team with him as they were all in Abby's lab at the time. It also meant that he didn't have to repeat himself, he could just let the ME do all the talking.

"Ah you brought the whole team this time Jethro, I'm afraid to say that I haven't got a lot to tell you," doctor Mallard said as his colleagues walked through his doors.

"But you do have something?" Gibbs asked, hoping it wouldn't be a wasted journey.

"Of course Jethro of course. This poor petty officer was beaten pretty severely, broken ribs, internal bleeding, if he hadn't been shot in the head then he would have died slowly unless he received medical treatment."

"So the bullet to the head definitely killed him?" Kate asked, trying hard not to look too close at the body.

"Most definitely, and that is one of the reasons I called you down. The bullet wound is somewhat distinctive, if you'll come and take a closer look the depth of the hole goes in a downward rather than upward path which is most likely."

"What does that mean Ducky?" McGee asked, looking a little green around the edges.

"It means that who ever killed him was standing by his head while he was flat on the ground. They shot him from an unusual angle," Tony replied, staring hard at the body.

"Yes Anthony that's quite right. When someone shoots someone else in the head it is usually head on, if the person is laying down they would either stand to the side and shoot, or they would stand over the body and shoot. This person stood at the head of the body facing the back of the persons head and fired, causing the bullet wound to have this downward path."

"So how does this help us narrow suspects down, I mean it's not like we know who fires a gun in this unusual way," Kate said, annoyed that the vital piece of information would actually be useless.

"My father," Tony said, so quietly that the team almost didn't hear him.

"What about him Dinozzo?" Gibbs asked, praying the agent wouldn't say what he thought he was going to say.

"He did this!" Tony exclaimed, and then promptly raced to the sinks and threw up, not being able to get certain images out of his head.

Gibbs wanted nothing more to walk over and comfort his agent, but he knew Tony would just shrug him off. So he just stood by quietly while Tony regained control of himself. "Why do you say that Tony?"

"It's his thing, it's how he kills people, I was never able to prove it though."

"Your father killed people?" McGee asked without thinking it through first.

"Yeah probie, he did."

"How do you know Anthony, about the bullet I mean," Ducky asked gently, afraid of the answer.

"I watched him do it."

Kate, McGee and Jimmy Palmer gasped, Ducky closed his eyes and whispered 'Oh my.' Gibbs just moved closer to his agent trying to keep his face as stoic as possible.

"Do you want to tell us about it?" Gibbs asked.

**Author's note: sorry I've left this on a bit of a cliff-hanger but I had people come over and then got involved with the Eurovision. I'll update sometime tomorrow so you won't have to wait too long!! Also sorry if I got the information about the bullet wound wrong. I wrote what I thought would happen!!**


	6. Chapter 6

Anthony Dinozzo leaned against one of the tables in autopsy and looked around at his teammates. He'd never told anyone about the time he'd witnessed his father taking someone's life, it was not something that he chose to share. He also realised that what he knew could be important to the case. If his father had killed the petty officer then the team needed to know everything they could.

"I was twelve, and I'd always been told that the bottom floor of the house was off limits, it was where my father did his business and I wasn't to go anywhere near it. It was a Sunday and I was bored, all the staff had Sunday's off and my mother died when I was nine, so I was all by myself with nothing to do. I've always been inquisitive, although my mother said I was just nosy. Naturally I'd always wanted to know what my father did in his secret place, and I thought that if I was quiet and careful I could have a look without anyone even knowing," Tony explained, stopping for a minute to look at his colleagues. "So I made my way down and when I reached the door that would lead down to the floor I heard voices. I knew that my father was down there and he had people with him, so I knew I had to be extra quiet. When I opened the door and started down the stairs, the voices become clearer and louder, and I could hear shouting. There were raised voices and there was also another voice that was pleading, saying sorry. I stopped not sure what was going on, and then I heard another noise, flesh-hitting flesh. My first thought was that my father was in trouble, the people with him were hurting him, so I raced down the rest of the stairs and into the room the noise was coming from. As I came into the room I saw a man laying on the floor, it wasn't my father so I looked for him. He was standing by the man's head holding something in his hand. Before I could say anything there was a shot and the man jerked and then became still. I watched a lot of movies so I knew what had happened, that's when my father looked over to me, he wasn't very happy to see me."

When Tony stopped speaking and looked at the floor Gibbs asked the question that everyone was thinking.

"What happened then Tony?"

"I ran!" Tony replied, laughing slightly. "But there was no where to run to, so my father caught up with me, and I learned never to be inquisitive again."

The room remained silent, wondering if Tony was going to elaborate.

"Let's just say that the family physician was called in, to make sure that my father hadn't done too much damage. Luckily it was the school holidays, so it didn't matter that I had to spend I few weeks at home."

"Oh Anthony, I am sorry," Ducky said after a few minutes.

"Well it was my own fault Duck, I wasn't supposed to go down there, and if I'd done what I was told then things would have been ok."

"You were a child Tony, when I child is told not to do something it's natural for them to want to do it. Just to do the opposite of what they've been told!" Kate said, not believing that Tony had had such an awful childhood.

Gibbs, seeing that Tony was going to argue decided to bring the subject back to the case. "So you think your father's responsible for this?"

"Unless it's a coincidence. But you don't believe in coincidences."

Gibbs looked at the members of his team, knowing that they were all worried about Tony but trying hard not to show it. Once they'd finished in autopsy they had all gone back to the bullpen to carry on with the investigation. Gibbs had realised that it was probable Dinozzo's father had killed the petty officer, but with no real evidence they had to look at all the possibilities. He had instructed Kate and McGee to look into the petty officers life, and find out if he had any enemies or if he had any problems. Anything that would point towards why he died. While they were looking into that angle he and Dinozzo would look into Dinozzo's father, and see if there was a connection to the petty officer, and if there wasn't they would try and at least find out where Mr. Dinozzo was at the time of the murder.

**Author's note: for all of those who were wondering about the Eurovision, I'm not a big fan and I think it's too political, the UK will never win no matter how good they are. I just like to listen to the performances some of them are hilarious!!**

**Sorry this is short again but I can't decide what to write next. I'm not exactly an expert on investigations and forensics so I might have to watch a few of the episodes to see where I should go now!! **


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's note: thankyou for all your reviews and suggestions, i've got a good train of thought at the moment and i know what should be happening for the next couple of chapters. Enjoy!!**

"I can't find any connections between my father and Petty Officer Walsh boss, if it was him I'm thinking that it was just a random hit," Tony said, leaning back in his chair away from his computer.

"Ok we knew it was a possibility," Gibbs replied, silently wishing they could have found a connection so the case was closed quickly. "I've found out where he's living, an apartment near the Potomac, it seems he sold your family house while he was in prison. He hasn't made any big cash withdrawals apart from the money for the apartment and he doesn't appear to be up to anything that he shouldn't be."

"Let's face it boss, if he killed petty officer Walsh then there isn't going to be any evidence linking him. He's too good, we could never pin any deaths on him when we went to trial."

"We're not going to give up Dinozzo, one way or another you father will pay for this."

Tony smiled slightly, knowing that his boss wasn't just looking out for the petty officer, and with that thought in mind he turned back to his computer, determined to find something to incriminate his father.

"Kate, McGee, what have you got?" Gibbs asked, as they walked into the bullpen.

"Petty officer Walsh was squeaky clean Gibbs, nothing on his record, not even a parking ticket. His commanding officer said that Walsh was so nice that he couldn't even see him going into combat, he was afraid that he wouldn't be able to kill when it came down to it," Kate said, turning to McGee so that he could explain the rest.

"His friends, and the officers in his unit didn't have a bad word to say about him. They said he couldn't possibly have had any enemies, and were we sure that he'd been killed deliberately. They also asked if it was possible he was mistaken for someone else, as that would make a lot more sense. His bank account is normal, his apartment is spotless, and there was nothing there that would be a reason for him being killed. The only thing I need to do is check out his computer, but boss I really don't think I'll find anything."

"I agree McGee, but check it anyway. I want all of you to write up what you've found and then go home, we'll start a fresh tomorrow," Gibbs replied, getting up and heading towards the stairs. "Anyone needs me I'll be with the director.

An hour later Gibbs and Tony got into Gibbs's car and headed for his place, everyone had headed home after Gibbs had finished with the director and him and Tony were the last to go.

"You ok Dinozzo?" Gibbs asked after a few minutes of silence.

"I'm fine," Tony replied, his short tone indicating that he wasn't.

Gibbs just nodded, deciding to wait until they'd reached his house to approach the topic some more.

Once they'd got to Gibbs's he started dinner, knowing that Tony hadn't had much of a lunch. He wanted to get some food into his senior field agent before he approached the subject of daddy Dinozzo again.

"This is good boss, I never realised you could cook so well," Tony said, not realising how hungry he'd been until he'd started eating.

"I was married three times Dinozzo, I picked up a few things."

The food was soon finished and coffee was made, Gibbs then headed for the basement, signalling for Tony to follow.

"So Dinozzo, how are you really?" Gibbs asked, after Tony was settled on the only chair in the basement.

"I told you boss, I'm.."

"If you say you're fine one more time, I am going to kick your ass," Gibbs interrupted, wanting Tony to open up.

"You really wanna know how I am!" Tony exclaimed, after taking a few deep breaths.

"Yeah Dinozzo I do."

"I'm scared, no make that terrified. My father wants me dead, and I know that he's going to come after me soon, but I don't know when and the wait is killing me. But not only does he want me dead, apparently he's going after innocent people to get my attention. That petty officer is dead, because of me, and I'm scared that my father will do it again. Maybe even to someone I know, someone I care about."

Part of Gibbs was pleased that Tony had opened up, got his feelings off his chest, but part of him knew he wasn't good at comfort, he never seemed to know the right things to say.

"Tony, I know you're scared, and I know your father intends to do something, but I am not going to let him. You're safe here with me, and you're safe at the office, you don't need to worry about that. And as for the petty officers death, that was not your fault. You didn't ask your father to do it, and you didn't know he was going to do it, so there was no way you could have stopped it. Ok."

Tony nodded, not trusting himself to say anything. He knew deep down that Gibbs was right, but he still couldn't help blaming himself.

"I think I'm gonna go to bed boss, I'm really wiped."

"Ok Tony, goodnight."

"Goodnight."


	8. Chapter 8

Gibbs remained in the basement for a few hours after Tony went to bed and then he followed knowing they'd have a lot of work to do the next day. As he reached the top of the stairs he stopped outside Tony's room, wanting to make sure the younger man was ok. He opened the door and immediately realised that there was something wrong. Tony was moaning and thrashing about, obviously suffering from unpleasant dreams. Gibbs made his way over to his agent slowly, wanting to wake him up, but knowing that he had to do it carefully.

"Tony," Gibbs said softly. "Wake up Tony, it's ok."

Nothing happened, so Gibbs reached forward and shook his agent gently. Tony immediately flinched away from the touch and moaned again, seemingly still too caught up in his nightmare.

"Dinozzo, wake up!" Gibbs said harshly, hoping that it would break through.

Tony stopped thrashing and sat up, his breathing coming in short gasps. His eyes scanned the room, not realising at first where he was.

"It's ok Tony, it was just a dream, calm down."

"B..Boss?"

"Yeah, I'm here, it's ok."

A few minutes passed and Tony calmed down, his mind realising that he was safe and that he didn't have to worry.

"So, you wanna talk about it?" Gibbs asked.

"It was just a bad dream boss, I'm fine," Tony replied, hoping Gibbs would drop it.

"I'm guessing it had something to do with your father. I'm here if you want to talk Tony, but you don't have to."

"I haven't had a nightmare that bad since I left home, I guess knowing he's close by made them come back."

"Do you dream about anything specific?"

"Not really, just what happened when I was little, all the things he would do, things I saw, was told. It's ok, there's nothing I can do that will stop them."

"I hear talking about it helps."

"Yeah? You want me to see a shrink!"

"No, but you can talk to me, Ducky, Abby, you're not alone in all this Dinozzo."

"I know boss, thanks."

"Ok, well go back to sleep, we've got a busy day tomorrow."

"Night boss."

"Goodnight Tony."

* * *

The next day was spent trying to find evidence that would link Dinozzo Snr with the petty officer, no matter how small they wanted an excuse to search his apartment to get what they needed.

"Gibbs," Gibbs stated as he picked up his ringing phone. He listened for a minute and then said. "Put her through."

Dinozzo, McGee and Kate all looked up, hoping that someone had information about the case that they could use.

"Thank you for calling Miss Whitmore, what is it I can do for you."

"I have information regarding petty officer Walsh's death," the woman on the other end of the line said.

"What kind of information?"

"I saw what happened, I'm sorry I didn't come forward sooner, but I was scared, I didn't know what to do."

"But you're willing to speak to us now?"

"Yes."

"That's good Miss Whitmore, we'd be interested to know what you saw."

"Would it be ok if someone came to my house, I'd feel more comfortable."

"Of course, give me the address and we'll be around as soon as we can."

As Gibbs put the phone down his team looked at him expectantly, hoping that they'd got a lead.

"That was a Miss Whitmore, it seems she witnessed petty officer Walsh's death."

"That's great," McGee exclaimed.

"Let's hope so McGee, Dinozzo your…" Gibbs started but was interrupted by his phone, as it rang for the second time.

"Gibbs." he said. "I was just heading out director, I could but I'd… yes I see, I'll be up in a few minutes."

"Something wrong boss," Tony asked, recognising the look on Gibbs's face.

"The director needs to see me, so you and McGee will have to go and interview Miss Whitmore."

"On it boss," Tony replied, glad to get out of the office.

"What about me Gibbs?" Kate questioned.

"I need you to finish those checks, hopefully when Dinozzo and McGee get back we'll have a solid lead."

As McGee was about to follow Tony to the elevator Gibbs stopped him.

"I expect you to watch his six McGee."

"I will boss."

"See that you do."


	9. Chapter 9

Dinozzo and McGee arrived at the witness's house in twenty minutes, eager to find out what she saw.

"Come in," Miss Whitmore said, as she opened the door and the agents had shown their badges. "Would you like some coffee?"

"That would be great," Tony replied, stepping into the living room.

"Sit down and I'll be right back, I've just made a pot."

Dinozzo and McGee sat next to each other on one of the sofas and scanned the room both wondering what Miss Whitmore would say.

"She seems nice," McGee said after a minute.

"That doesn't mean a thing probie."

"I wasn't sure if you took sugar or creamer so I bought both with me, please take whatever you need," Miss Whitmore explained as she came back into the room carrying a tray.

"Thank you," both agents replied, helping themselves.

"So, Miss Whitmore, could you tell us what you witnessed," Tony asked, after taking a long sip of his coffee.

"I haven't been sleeping lately and I find that a walk helps to relax me. I headed out at about 0330 and arrived at the park in ten minutes. I normally park the car and then walk around the perimeter, and then once I'm finished I drive home and go to bed. That day I took my normal route and as I was approaching the seated area I noticed a van parked at the edge of the park. It was unusual to find anyone else out at the same time as me so I stopped and had a look," Miss Whitmore paused to have a drink of her coffee, while the agents waited patiently. "As I looked over the drivers door opened and a man got out, he walked to the back of the van and was joined by a second man who I guess got out of the passengers seat. They opened the vans back doors and a third man appeared. By this time I was a little worried, they didn't look the type to be in the park for a good reason at that time in the morning, so I hid. Once I'd hidden myself I looked back in time to see them pulling a man from the back. They dragged him over the grass and placed him beside a row of trees, and then looked around, I guess to make sure they didn't have any witnesses. They talked for a minute and then they went back to the van and drove off. As soon as the van was far enough away I went over to the man they'd dumped, to see if he was still alive. Once I got close enough I could see that he was dead and the whole thing just scared me. That's why I didn't call the police straight away, I knew someone would find him, and I didn't want to get involved."

"If you're worried about the men that did this, then we can protect you Miss Whitmore," Tony said, hoping that the witness would be able to identify the men from the van.

"Mandy please," she replied, draining her coffee cup.

"Do you remember anything about the men, any distinguishing features?" McGee asked, thinking the same things as Tony.

"They were all tall, wearing baseball caps and coats so I didn't get a good look at them, I was standing quite far away."

"Ok, what about the van, anything there?"

"It was white, although it looked quite dirty, there was no writing I'm afraid, and I never got to see the back end head on so I didn't see the number plate."

"Is there anything else…. That .. you can ….. think of?" Tony asked, his words slurring a little as if he'd had too much to drink.

"No sorry. Are you alright?"

"I'm, not …. sure."

"Tony, you don't look so good," McGee said, turning to get a better look at his partner. "What's wrong?"

"Don't … know."

"We need to…" McGee trailed off, suddenly feeling light headed. "We…."

"I'm afraid you boys aren't going anywhere," Mandy said, rising from her seat to go to where the two agents were sitting. She the turned her head to the side. "You can come in now."

"What…" McGee tried to get out, but he was having trouble keeping his eyes open.

"Don't worry sweetie it isn't you we want!" Mandy exclaimed, taking both agents guns with ease. "Let's get this done quickly and get out of here."

The two guys who walked into the room nodded and headed towards the sofa, stopping in front of Agent McGee.

"What about him?" the taller of the two asked.

"Leave him, when he wakes up he'll phone his boss and they can have fun trying to find their friend."

The two guys laughed and reached down to pick up Tony, who had lost his battle with consciousness. They picked him up easily and carried him back the way they'd come and out the back door.

McGee was trying desperately to stay awake; he knew if he let Tony be taken then he was a good as dead. He'd told the boss that he'd watch Tony's six, and there he was lying out of it, letting him down.

"You tell your boss that he'd better find a new agent, cos once his daddy's done with him they'll be nothing left."


	10. Chapter 10

Agent Gibbs walked down the stairs from the director's office and looked around the bullpen, where Kate was sitting at her desk typing on her computer.

"Dinozzo and McGee not back yet?" he asked.

"No not yet, but it's a twenty minute drive there and back, they're probably on their way," Kate replied, hoping her team mates got back soon.

Gibbs nodded and sat down at his desk, bringing up his email account so he had something to do while he waited. As he was deleting the junk his cell phone rang.

"Gibbs."

"Boss!" the caller said.

"McGee, is that you?"

"I'm sorry boss, I didn't …. have his six…"

"McGee, what are you talking about?"

"Find him! I…"

"McGee, Tim, Tim are you there!"

"What's going on?" Kate asked, coming over to stand by Gibbs's desk.

"I don't know," Gibbs replied, disconnecting the call and dialling another number. "Abs, I need you to run a trace on Dinozzo and McGee's phones."

"Why Gibbs, has something happened?" the lab tech answered, worried for her friends.

"I don't know Abs, but I need to know where they are."

"I'm on it."

"Come on Kate, let's go."

"Where?"

"To Miss Whitmore's, that was the last place we know they were."

Ten minutes later Gibbs and Kate pulled into Miss Whitmore's drive, and immediately noticed the that the car Dinozzo and McGee were driving was still parked there.

Abby had informed them that McGee's phone was at Miss Whitmore's address, but Dinozzo's was switched off, also letting them know that she would tell them as soon as it was transmitting again.

"Open up, NCIS," Gibbs called through the door, while banging his fist against it.

When there was no reply he took a step back and kicked it in, drawing his weapon as the door splintered open. With Kate behind him, Gibbs made his way into the house checking for his agents in every room.

"Kitchen's clear," Kate said, walking back out. "I'll check upstairs."

Gibbs nodded and headed off for the back of the house where he guessed the living area would be. He turned the corner and pushed open the only door to find Agent McGee slumped on the floor seemly unconscious.

"McGee?" Gibbs said, as he scanned the room. Finding no visible danger he holstered his weapon, called for Kate and then approached his agent. "McGee."

"Did you find something?" Kate asked from the door, finding the answer to her question as she walked into the room. "Is he…"

"He's alive, but I can't wake him up," Gibbs replied, trying not to think about where Tony was.

"I'll call for an ambulance," Kate said, getting out her phone.

"Call for an extra set of hands as well, we need to treat this as a crime scene and we're two agents down."

Kate nodded dialling the number, not asking where Gibbs thought Tony was, she just prayed they'd find him soon.

As Kate walked out of the door to make the call, Gibbs turned back to his agent wanting to make sure that he was ok. As he bent down to check McGee's vitals there was a slight groan.

"McGee, are you with me?" Gibbs asked.

"Boss?" McGee questioned, his voice barely a whisper.

"Yeah McGee, it's me."

"I'm sorry…" McGee started.

"Don't talk Tim, it's ok, the ambulance will be here soon."

"No boss… I need to tell you… they took Tony, I… I couldn't stop them!"

"Well if I'm right, then you've been drugged. It wasn't your fault."

"It was his father… this was all a… trap! She put something in… in our coffee, I didn't know."

"Did you see Tony's father?"

"No. It was the woman… and two men… she mentioned Tony's father. She said… to tell you, to look for a… a new agent. Once Tony's father, was finished… they'd be nothing left!"

"We'll find him McGee, don't worry." Gibbs said, praying that he was right.

He promised Tony that he'd keep him safe, watch his six, and he wasn't about to break it.

Tony woke up to find himself in a room he didn't recognise, it was dark the only light filtering in from a small window, and it was cold. He was lying down on a bed and his hands were tied behind his back, he wasn't sure how long he'd been out but his arms and hands were going numb from the weight of his body lying on them. He rolled over onto his side, relieving the pressure a little and took a better look around. The room was practically bare, and there seemed to be only one way out, a door at the top of a set of stairs. His jacket had been taken as well as his belt and his shoes, he wasn't going to be to be using the item from rule number nine anytime soon. It seemed at first look that his hands were the only things restrained, but as he tried to swing his legs off the bed he realised that one ankle was chained to the bed. He could move it so far and then the chain would stop. Petty Officer Swain sprang to mind as he thought about the mess he was in, she had been placed in a small room, chained to a bed so that she wouldn't escape, well at least he wasn't wearing a wedding dress.

As Tony began to realise who was likely to be behind all this there was a noise from the top of the stairs. The sound of a key in a lock, and then a squeak as the door was opened. Tony could only watch as a man walked through the door and headed down the stairs, stopping halfway to switch on the light. His fears were confirmed as his eyes adjusted to the light and he came face to face with his father.

"Hello Anthony, did you miss me!"


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's note: I tried to update this yesterday evening but I was told the server had overloaded!!! This is a short chapter so I may write another one for tonight!!**

Gibbs and Kate arrived back at the NCIS headquarters after a thorough search of the fake witnesses house. They went straight down to the lab so that Abby could start sorting the evidence, and they needed to let her know what was happening.

"Hey Gibbs did you find them?" Abby asked as he and Kate walked through the door.

"McGee's ok, but we think he was drugged so he's at the hospital, and Tony, Tony's been taken."

"His father?"

"Looks like, so we need you to start looking through this evidence, cos we need a lead Abs. At the moment, we've got nothing."

"I'm on it bossman, I will find something that will lead us to Tony."

"Good girl," Gibbs said, kissing the Goth girl on the head and walking out of the lab.

"Kate, I need you to find out who that house belongs to, go back there and interview the neighbours if you have to, but we need to find out if that woman was there for a reason or if it was a random finding."

"Will do Gibbs."

"I'll be with the director."

* * *

"Well Anthony, answer the question," Mr Dinozzo snr said, standing directly in front of his son.

Tony just sat still staring at his father, he knew it was a bad idea to disobey him but he wasn't going to play along.

"You've grown some balls since I last saw you, when you were a child you never would have ignored me."

Tony still said nothing, and he got a hit across the face for his stubbornness, he was used to the violence so I few punches wouldn't hurt him.

"We're going to have a little fun at your expense Anthony, and I'm going to thoroughly enjoy it. Once I'm finished with you, you're going to either be dead, or you're going to be broken into little pieces, and not even your precious Gibbs will be able to put you back together."

Dinozzo snr then hit his son again and left the room, turning out the light as his went. Tony lay back onto the bed thinking over what his father had said, trying hard to stay positive. He knew that Gibbs would find him, he always did, but he knew what his father was like, he knew that when he was mad he was mad, and when he said he was going to do something he wouldn't back down. Tony was scared, scared of what his father was capable of, and scared that by the time Gibbs found him it would be too late.


	12. Chapter 12

"Gibbs, I found out that the house belongs to a Mrs Vera Collins, she's dead," Kate told her boss as he came back from the director.

"Did she leave it to anyone in her will?" Gibbs asked, standing by Kate's desk as she went through the details on her computer.

"She left it to her granddaughter, a Miss Andrea Downing, this is a picture of her, but until I can speak to McGee I won't know if that's our Miss Whitmore."

"Go to the hospital, find out how McGee is, and show him that picture of her. I want you to ask him if he can identify the two men who were with her, and then I want you to call me. I can meet you back at the house, and we'll interview the neighbours, see if anybody saw anything, somebody must be able to tell us something."

"Will do Gibbs," Kate replied, holstering her sig and heading towards the elevator.

* * *

"Hey Abs, please tell me you've got something," Gibbs said as he entered the lab, caf pow in one hand and coffee in the other.

"I've got lots, although I don't know how relevant it'll all be," Abby replied, taking her caf pow gratefully and going to her computer.

"Anything will do Abs!"

"The fingerprints you took came back, some were Tony and McGee's, some were a little old lady called Vera Collins, who is dead now by the way, and the third set is from a Andrea Downing. There are a few more that I haven't been able to trace yet, but I'm working on it."

"Good job Abs, we're hoping that the fake Miss Whitmore is actually Andrea Downing, and seeing as you put her at the scene it seems likely. You got anything else?"

"The coffee was laced with sedatives, your normal variety but I'm hoping that if I find out the specific make up I can find out where they're sold, and I can find out who bought them. There was a higher dosage in Tony's so I'm thinking that they took him somewhere long distance, they didn't want him waking up halfway there."

"That's good thinking Abs, can you tell how long someone would be out by the dosage?"

"I can't give you an exact time, but I can give you an estimate. I'd say Tony was out for at least an hour, possibly two."

"Ok, that might help. Anything else?"

"Not yet."

"Ok Abs, keep going, call me on my cell if you find anything."

"Ok bossman," Abby replied, watching Gibbs leave. As he was about to walk out of the lab completely she called out. "Gibbs!"

"Yeah Abs."

"We'll find him, won't we?"

"Yeah we'll find him!"

* * *

As Kate walked into the hospital, she was immediately directed to a room and told that McGee was doing fine.

"Hey McGee, how are you feeling?" Kate asked, needing to know for herself that everything was ok.

"I'm alright," McGee replied, although it was obvious he was lying.

"I'm glad you're ok Tim."

There was a short silence, as neither knew what to say, then Kate found her voice.

"We think the women who you met is called Andrea Downing, and I need you to look at a photo and tell me if it's her."

Tim nodded and took the photo, looking at it closely. "That's her, her hair's darker, and she was wearing glasses, but it's definitely her."

"That's good, at least we're getting somewhere."

"Tony's been taken, and we have no idea where he is, knowing the name of the women who drugged us isn't going to find him!" McGee exclaimed, taking his frustrations out on Kate.

"We investigate McGee, even one little bit of information can be the turning point in a case. We find this Andrea Downing, we let Gibbs interrogate her and she might lead us to Tony. You need to stay positive, and stop feeling guilty."

"It's my fault Kate, I should have had his six like Gibbs asked me too."

"No Tim it's not. You were drugged too, you couldn't stop Tony from being taken, and Gibbs knows that."

"He does?"

"Yes he does." Kate paused to let McGee have a minute. "Do you think you can identify the two men who were with Andrea Downing?"

"One of the men came right in front of me, and I'd know him if I saw him again. The other one, I didn't get a great look at, I could give you a pretty rough description."

"It's better than nothing."

"Can you go find a doctor?" McGee asked.

"Why, is something wrong?"

"No, I'm fine. I was hoping he could discharge me, so that I can come back to NCIS and help out."

"McGee, you should be resting."

"Lets see what the doctor says."

"Ok," Kate said, getting up to go in search for her partner's doctor.

She found him quickly and after a long discussion the doctor decided to let Tim sign himself out. He told him to take it easy, and to come back if there were any problems.

McGee got his things together while Kate rang Gibbs to give him an update; they then made their way back to headquarters to continue the search for their missing team mate.

**Author's note: I'm not sure how accurate the passages about the sedatives were but I figured it sounded ok. Thanks for all the lovely reviews and hope you enjoy!!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Author's note: this chapter is dedicated to Tony, although some people may find it a little dark. Just a warning, don't read if you don't like that sort of thing!!**

Tony was dreaming that he was home, seated on his sofa with a cold beer and a good movie, when he was suddenly brought back to reality by a bucket of cold water. He jerked awake and moved away from the liquid as it soaked through his clothes, and the sheets he was lying on.

"Time to get up Anthony, we have things to talk about," Carlos Dinozzo exclaimed, standing in front of his son.

"There are better ways to get people up," Tony muttered without thinking, and received a not so gentle hit across the face.

"Don't back talk me boy, you don't want to cause anymore trouble then you already have."

Tony remained silent, knowing that he was probably going to get a beating and not wanting to provoke anything else.

"You disappointed me Anthony, I always knew you were weak and ungrateful, but to send your own father to prison. Nine years a spent in that place, and you of all people should know what prison is like. I should have known you'd end up doing it as a career; you were never good enough to come into the business. Nine years Anthony, a lot can happen in that time, bad things can happen. I've been thinking, maybe I should make you suffer for that long, why should you get off so easily."

Tony looked up at his father trying to decide if he was serious, he knew that his father meant what he said, but he couldn't keep him here for that long, even he wasn't that cruel.

"Of course that's just not feasible, and I don't think I could put up with having you so close for that long. Short but sweet, that's what this is going to be, painful for you, good for me. A few weeks, and you're free to go, that is if you survive that long, you always bruised easily as a child," Carlos stopped and brought his face close to his sons. "I'll leave you for a few minutes while I go and prepare, we're going to have a little fun, and don't worry about us making any noise, we're in the middle of no where, so no one will hear you."

* * *

Tony tried to stay calm as he waited for his father to come back, wondering what it was he had to prepare. Tony knew that there was no way he'd get away, for one his leg was chained to the wall and his knife had been taken, so freeing himself like he had freed the captured gunny that time wasn't an option. Secondly he didn't know how many people there were with his father, and he wasn't ashamed to admit that he was also terrified of the man, and wasn't looking forward to going one on one with him. Tony's thoughts were stopped as the door to the basement opened again, and his father walked through and down the stairs.

"I don't know if you're aware Anthony, but I am an excellent torturer, I can get information out of people quite easily, without doing too much damage. Torture is a wonderful thing, to hold that much power over a person, to know that you're causing pain but not severe injury. That's what's going to happen now Anthony, although this time it's not for information, it's for revenge. I'm going to cause pain, like the pain you caused me, and I can make this last a long time without even hurting you too badly."

Tony pulled himself further away from his father as the senior Dinozzo approached, he couldn't believe what he was hearing, that his father was so sick and twisted, and that he was going to hurt him like it was some sport. He prayed that Gibbs would come bursting through the door, wished for it more than anything he'd ever wished for before. But he knew that he wasn't coming, his father was clever, twisted, but clever, and it would take the team a while to track him down, if they managed to find him at all. For now he just had to take whatever his father did to him, and hope that he wouldn't go too far.

"When I used to torture people back when you were a child I had help, because the poor souls who crossed me never took it well. I needed someone to hold them down, make it easier, but this is different, personal. So instead of having someone hold you down I'm going to have to give you a little something to keep you still. Clever little drug this, it paralyses the person but doesn't make them impervious to pain. So, once this little drug is flowing through you're veins you'll be still, but you'll still be able to feel everything I do, easier for me, not so easy on you."

When Tony's father finished speaking, Tony noticed for the first time what the man was holding, it was a syringe and this sight made Tony back away even more. The thought of not being able to move, but to be able to feel everything that's going on was terrifying and Tony tried desperately to get away. The problem was he'd backed himself into a corner, and he didn't have the use of his hands so he couldn't fight back that way. He realised that he could still use his legs, so as his father bent in intent on injecting him with the concoction, Tony brought his knees to his chest and then kicked out, as viciously as he could. The satisfaction of seeing his father go flying part way across the room was short lived, as the man got to his feet and called out an instruction. A few seconds passed and then two men came down the stairs, both big and muscular and Tony realised that they were in the group that attacked him. They walked over to him and restrained him with ease, giving the senior Dinozzo time to jab the needle into Tony's thigh.

"You're going to pay for that!" Tony's father spat, as he waved his men away.

Tony had a few minutes of freedom when he was released, and then the drug took effect. It started in his legs, and then moved its way up his body, until he was completely numb and unable to move. The only part of his body that he was able to work were his eyes, and he stared at his father silently praying that he would change his mind and let him go.

"Well that's better," Carlos said, setting the needle down and moving across the room.

Tony realised that his last thought was definitely wishful thinking; the only way he was going to be spared any pain was if someone saved him, and he'd already established that that wasn't going to happen. He just needed to concentrate on his breathing, and pray that the pain didn't last long.

"I think we'll start with this. My father gave me it, I don't know if you've ever seen it before, but you're going to feel it now."

**Author's note: I hope that was ok, I had a hard time writing this chapter at first, and then it just came out and I couldn't stop. Let me know what you think!!**


	14. Chapter 14

"Jethro, I'm glad you could join me so soon, please sit down," Director Morrow said, as special agent Gibbs came into his office.

"What's this about director?" Gibbs asked, knowing what it was without having to ask.

"This is about special agent Dinozzo, it's been a week Jethro and we haven't had any new leads, chances are that he's…"

"He's not dead director, and I'm not going to stop looking for him," Gibbs interrupted, ready to put up a fight for his missing agent.

"I don't want you to stop, I just need you to concentrate on other cases. They're piling up Jethro, and your team has the best clear up rate, even if you are a man down."

"I'm not giving up on him."

"As soon as a new lead comes in you run with it, I want him found as much as you do, even if it is to just but him to rest."

"Is that all director?"

"Yes, here are the details of the case I need you to work on. Keep me informed of any developments with agent Dinozzo."

"Sir."

* * *

"What did the director want?" Kate asked as Gibbs came into the bullpen.

"He's wants us working new cases, starting now, so gear up," Gibbs replied, knowing that Kate and McGee weren't going to leave the conversation like that.

"What about Tony?" McGee asked, just before Kate could speak.

"We still keep looking, but until we find a lead we need to work these other cases. Now gear up and I'll meet you by the truck."

With that Gibbs holstered his weapon and headed towards the elevator, leaving Kate and McGee to stare after him.

"He's serious, isn't he?" Kate asked, turning to look at her partner.

"Yeah, I think he is. But remember Kate, this isn't his idea, the director must have given him strict instructions, even Gibbs can't say no to him."

"I guess, it's just, we need to find him Tim, it's been a week, do you know what can happen in a week!"

"Yeah Kate, I know."

They sat in silence for a minute both thinking of what Tony could be going through.

"We better go, or Gibbs will come looking," McGee said, getting up and heading in the direction their boss had gone minutes earlier.

"I just hope this case is quick and easy."

* * *

"Gunnery Sergeant Thomas, shot three times in the back and then once more to the back of the head, the killer meant business," the local uniform informed the team. "As soon as we found his military ID we called you."

"Thank you officer, we'll take it from here."

"Yes sir."

"What have we got Duck?" Gibbs asked the ME, crouching down beside the body.

"The officer was correct Jethro, four bullet wounds, three to the back and one to the back of the head. A little bit of an overkill here if you ask me!"

"Why do you say that?"

"He was shot in the back first, so my guess, although I'll have to confirm it in the autopsy, but me guess was that he was dead before he was shot in the head. That is the overkill part!"

"Time of death?"

"Not that long ago, I'd say between 0800 and 0900 this morning."

"Thanks Duck."

"Not a problem Jethro."

"McGee shoot and sketch, Kate bag and tag, Di…" Gibbs trailed off, starting to say his senior field agents name instinctively.

The team all turned to him, different emotions running across their faces, and Gibbs wanted Tony there with them more than anything.

"Come on people, let's move. The quicker we do this, the quicker we can close the case."

Gibbs took one last look at the members of his team and then walked away, intending to speak to the person who found the body.

"I can't believe he said that," Kate said, watching Gibbs walk away.

"He gives out the same orders all the time at crime scenes Katelyn, he probably didn't even think about it," Ducky replied, giving her shoulder a slight squeeze before turning to his assistant. "Come on Mr Palmer let's go get the gurney, so we can take the Gunnery Sergeant home."

**Author's note: sorry this is short but I need to go to bed!! Tony should be found soon, although I can't promise that he'll be ok!! Hope you enjoyed this chapter I'll hopefully post more tomorrow**


	15. Chapter 15

**Author's note: sorry this wasn't posted yesterday like usual but I've been really busy!! The chapter after this might not be up until Sunday as I'm out all day tomorrow!! Enjoy!!**

Luckily for the team the case was practically open and shut, they found out that the Gunnery Sergeant was in debt and had borrowed a substantial amount of money from a loan shark. Abby then found DNA evidence on the body, which came up in the system as belonging to a Mr David Franks. Mr Franks was wanted in connection to another murder in the same style, and had been linked to the same loan sharks as the Gunny owed money to.

"Well done," Gibbs praised unexpectantly, as he looked at his team.

Kate and McGee both looked surprised, so Gibbs continued.

"This was hard, our first case without Tony, and you both handled yourselves well."

"Thanks Gibbs," Kate replied, sending her report to print.

Both Kate and McGee got up to collect their reports from the printer so they could put them on Gibbs's desk. Gibbs just sat staring at his senior field agent's desk, longing for the agent to be sitting there.

"Special agent Gibbs," a uniformed man said as he approached the bullpen.

"Yes."

"I have a woman here who claims to have information about agent Dinozzo."

"Bring her over," Gibbs replied, eager to know what this woman had to say.

Kate and McGee had heard the security guard speak and had turned, eager as Gibbs was to finally get some new information.

"You!" McGee exclaimed, as the security guard beckoned the woman over.

"McGee, do you know her?" Kate asked, not recognising the woman herself.

"That's the bitch who set Tony and I up!"

Gibbs turned from his agent to the woman in front of him.

"Miss Whitmore? Or should I call you Andrea Downing?"

"Please, I'm here to help," Andrea said, standing facing the three NCIS agents.

"Help? I think you've done enough!" McGee replied, angered by the audacity of the woman.

"I know where agent Dinozzo is."

There was a pause as the team took in Miss Downing's words; it was Gibbs who broke the silence.

"Where?" Gibbs asked, short and straight to the point.

"First you have to promise that you'll protect me," Andrea pleaded.

"I don't have to promise you a thing! You're an accessory in all this, I could have you arrested right now."

"Please, he'll kill me if I tell you."

"Who will?" Kate asked, curious not sympathetic.

"Carlos, agent Dinozzo's father."

"You tell us where my agent is, and once we have him back, then we'll decided on a deal," Gibbs explained, knowing that they were wasting time.

"He's in an abandoned cabin, in the middle of Worley forest, I can give you directions."

* * *

Tony was having the same dream that he'd been having every night since his father had taken him; he was dreaming that he was being rescued. Gibbs broke down the door and rushed in, slapping Tony across the head for making him worry. Normally the dream ended, and Tony would wake up to the same four walls he'd been staring at for over a week. He'd be lying on the same bed still chained up with no way out, but this night was different, Tony couldn't decipher dream from reality. He thought he'd woken up, but as he opened his eyes there was Gibbs standing over him. He closed his eyes again, thinking that it was just an after effect of the dream, but Gibbs was still there when he opened them again.

"Are you real?" he asked, deciding that he must be crazy if he was talking to his hallucinations.

"Yeah Tony, I'm real. You're safe now," Gibbs replied softly.

Tony just stared at him not really wanting to believe it, unless it disappeared. Gibbs kept talking to him, while they waited for the paramedics, telling him to hold on, ordering him to stay awake and talk to him. Tony just stared throughout all of this, trying to take it all in, was Gibbs really there, was he finally safe, what about his father. He was about to ask his boss these questions when there was a change in his vision, Gibbs was moving away from him, he was leaving, he knew that it hadn't been real.

"NO!" he cried out, although it seemed to come out as more of a whisper. "Don't leave me!"

As he was speaking he reached out, knowing that he was hallucinating and that he wouldn't really be able to touch his boss. As Tony's fingers brushed against Gibbs's he finally realised that it was real, Gibbs was real and everything was going to be ok. His fingers encircled around Gibbs's wrist, pulling even though he had no strength, how could Gibbs leave him, he'd only just arrived.

"It's ok Tony, I'm not going anywhere," Gibbs replied, moving to sit on the edge of the bed, and pulling Tony towards him.

Tony welcomed the embrace, after not having any affectionate physical contact for a while, he held onto his boss as if he were a lifeline.

Gibbs hugged Tony tightly, careful of his injuries as he didn't want to cause him anymore pain. He knew that the paramedics were waiting, but Tony needed someone close by for a few minutes, and he wasn't about to leave him in the state he was in.

"Tony, I need you to let go for a minute ok. We've got to get you to the hospital, and the paramedics are here to take you," Gibbs told his senior field agent softly.

At first there was no response, and then Tony loosened his grip and let Gibbs move away.

"I'm right here Tony, I won't leave you."

That was the last thing Tony heard as he let the darkness take over, he was safe, Gibbs had his six.

**Author's note: I made up Worley forest, I case anyone was wondering!!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Author's note: I'm glad everyone's enjoying this and for the people who asked questions you should have the answers soon!! I had a bit of writer's block today so I hope this turns out ok!! Flashbacks are in italics**

Gibbs paced the waiting room impatiently, wondering what was keeping the doctors so long. The whole team sat around him, Kate and Ducky were sitting together, their eyes alternating between the door and Gibbs. Abby was sitting with McGee leaning against him, obviously seeking comfort from her friend. They were all relieved that Tony had finally been found, but were all still worried about the condition he was in. Gibbs couldn't get the sight of his senior field agent out of his head. He repeated the moment the team had entered the cabin in his head as he waited for news on Tony.

_Gibbs looked around him and saw that both Kate and McGee were in place and the backup teams had just arrived. It was now or never, so he signalled to his team that they were going in, and he burst through the door._

"_NCIS, put you're hands where I can see them," Gibbs yelled as he entered the cabin._

_There were two people in the room, and as they saw the agents approaching they jumped up and tried to make a run for it._

"_Don't move or we'll be forced to shoot!" _

_This stilled the two men, and they did what Gibbs instructed, standing still and put their hands on the heads._

"_Where is agent Dinozzo?" Gibbs asked the men, scanning the area for any signs of life._

"_I don't know any Dinozzo," one of the men said, while the other remained silent._

_Gibbs having enough of the men passed them not too gently to another agent and told them to get the men out of his sight._

"_Search the place, yell when you find him."_

_The teams spread out, searching in every room, but not finding anything._

"_Maybe she was lying," Kate suggested, her anger surfacing. _

"_So help me if she was!" Gibbs exclaimed._

_Just then there was a noise from the other room, and all the agents got into position. Gibbs could see the entire room from where he was standing, and was shocked when a man seemed to step out of the wall. He realised that there was a hidden room, and that the man in front of him must be Tony's father._

"_Freeze, NCIS," Gibbs cried, coming out from his position and pointing his gun at the man._

_Unknown to Gibbs Tony's father had a weapon by his side, and he brought it up shooting at Gibbs and Kate who was behind him. They both dodged the bullets and then sent off a few rounds of their own, sending the man down to the floor, the gun falling from his hand. An officer from the opposite side of the room approached the fallen man and felt for a pulse. _

"_He's dead."_

_Gibbs was unsure what to make of the news, he was glad that Tony's father was out of his life forever, but he wanted the man to suffer for whatever he'd done to his agent. Gibbs tore his gaze away from the body and moved towards the hidden door, the handle was so carefully concealed that no one would know it was there unless someone pointed it out to them. He opened the door, gun out in front of him, not wanting any more surprises. He carefully made his way down the flight of steps, followed closely by Kate and McGee until he reached the bottom. The room was dark lit only by the open doorway and a small window. As Gibbs moved forward seeing a figure but not being able to make out who it was the room was bathed in light. He turned sharply and saw that Kate had found the light switch; he also caught the expression on both her face and McGee's. Turning back around to the figure, Gibbs took a quick intake of breath, his agent looked barely alive. He was curled into a ball, small shivers running all over his body, caused by either the cold, the shock or maybe even both. He was wearing a shirt and trousers, everything else had been removed, and the shirt was bloody and dirty and Gibbs didn't think he wanted to know what lay underneath it. Tony's face was partially hidden but by what Gibbs could see it was a mess, and to top it all off he was chained to the bed like some animal. _

"_Tony," Gibbs said softly, approaching his agent cautiously._

_Tony didn't answer, and Gibbs wasn't sure whether he was asleep, unconscious or worse not breathing._

"_Tony, I need you to wake up," he tried again, this time a little louder. Touching Tony carefully on the shoulder, only to have him immediately flinch away._

_After a minute Tony opened his eyes, and after getting his bearings he looked at Gibbs and said three words, his voice, however weak was the best thing Gibbs could hear. He answered and comforted his agent until the paramedics got there, all the while wishing Tony's father was still alive so he could kill him again._

Gibbs was brought out of his memory by Tony's doctor entering the waiting room, noticing the grim look on her face he hoped that the news wasn't bad.

"My name's Dr. Cramer, are you here for agent Dinozzo?" the doctor asked, glad that the man had so many people there for him, knowing how much he was going to need them.

"Yes, how is he," Gibbs replied, eager as everyone to find out news.

"It's been rough, he's dehydrated, malnourished, exhausted, and he's got numerous wounds over his entire body, cuts, bruises, burns and there's noticeable needle marks on his right thigh, we've sent his blood away for tests. Luckily none of his injuries caused any major damage, although I'm a little worried about his lungs, he may have a case of pneumonia, although I'm waiting for his x-rays to come back."

"Oh my, it's that bad?" Ducky asked, introducing himself to the doctor.

"I'm afraid so Dr Mallard, and it's not just the physical injuries I'm worried about, it's his mental state. He's been tortured quite badly for a week, and from what you say is true, from his own father. That is bound to have an effect, and we'll need to look into that more closely."

"He'll be ok," Gibbs stated simply. "When can we see him?"

"He became quite agitated when another doctor was examining him, he had to be sedated and I then took over. You can go in, but he'll be asleep for at least another hour."

"Why did you take over from the other doctor?" Kate asked, curious to find out what had happened.

"The other doctor's male, and he noticed that agent Dinozzo became upset when he tried to go near him. He seemed fine with the nurses, who are all female, but as soon as Dr Reading went near he freaked out. We decided it would be a good idea to assign me to replace Dr Reading as it would be easier on the patient."

"Did you…" Ducky trailed off.

"We checked for signs of sexual assault and there was none that we could make out. It is possible that he's afraid of men because a man hurt him, we'll discuss it with him when he's a little stronger."

"Thank you doctor, may we see him now," Ducky replied, glad the doctor had known what he wanted to ask.

"Of course, follow me."

* * *

Gibbs sat beside Tony, taking in his appearance again. It had been a few hours since they'd spoken with the doctor, and Tony had only woken briefly before being coaxed back to sleep.

"_He looks so venerable," Abby said, as she perched herself on the edge of Tony's bed._

"_Yes, it's not often that Anthony is this quiet," Ducky replied, and they all thought about the reason why he was so quiet._

"_Do you think he'll be ok?" Kate asked, concerned that her partner would never get over his ordeal. _

"_He'll be fine Kate, Dinozzo's strong, he'll bounce back," Gibbs answered, never taking his eyes away from his sleeping agent._

"_I wonder when he'll wake up?" Tim said, and as if answering the question Tony began to stir._

_The team waited in anticipation, all wondering what Tony was going to say, if he was going to say anything at all. Unfortunately the stirring didn't signify him waking up, but him having a nightmare, in which he seemed to be extremely stressed._

"_Oh dear, I hoped this wouldn't happen," Ducky said, concerned for his friend._

"_Do you think we should wake him up?" Tim asked, not wanting to see Tony hurt anymore than he had been._

"_Tony, it's just a nightmare, I need you to wake up," Gibbs said softly, leaning in to speak to his agent._

_Tony didn't appear to hear, as he started moaning, and thrashing about._

_Gibbs not wanting Tony to hurt himself took hold of the agent gently and spoke to him again, hoping to get through. It worked, although not in the way Gibbs was expecting. As Tony opened his eyes he shrunk back trying to get away from Gibbs, who was still holding him. _

"_Please, don't hurt me, please," Tony whispered, struggling to get away._

"_Tony, it's Gibbs, I'm not going to hurt you."_

"_Please, stop, I'm sorry," Tony pleaded, breaking Gibbs's heart; it appeared he didn't know where he was and what was going on._

_Gibbs let go of his agent slowly and moved away, causing Tony to instantly curl himself into a ball, his body shaking as he sobbed quietly. Everyone stood in their current places, unsure what to do, Abby being the first to act. She climbed onto the bed with her friend, facing him and hugging him gently, running one hand up his back and the other through his hair._

"_Sshhh Tony, you're safe now, it's ok," she said, repeating herself until Tony relaxed into her touch. _

_After Tony had gone back to sleep Kate McGee and Ducky had left, making Gibbs promise to call if anything changed. _

Abby woke from her position in her seat and looked first at Tony and then Gibbs, both were asleep so she felt it was safe to leave for a few minutes to get herself a caf pow, she really needed a pick me up. After Abby had left Tony woke up, scared at first as he didn't know where he was, he looked around the room, realising that he was at the hospital, and smiling slightly when he saw his boss asleep in a chair. Gibbs had found him, and he was safe, he didn't know where his father was, but he knew Gibbs wouldn't let him get anywhere near again. He shivered as he thought back on some of the things his father had done to him, wanting nothing more to have the memories all erased from his head. Even though he knew he was safe, he was still scared, and he started to panic about what Gibbs and the team would think of him. His father had told him that they didn't care, and that's why they hadn't come for him. He told Tony that they'd called of the search, and that they were already thinking of replacing him. Despite knowing deep inside that these things weren't true Tony found himself worrying what Gibbs would say when he woke up. He was terrified that Gibbs would hate him, like his father did, would think that he was weak and pathetic, who didn't deserve to be a federal agent. Knowing that he couldn't take anymore hurt from someone who he considered family, Tony decided he'd leave, get as far away as possible until it all blowed over. With that crazy thought in mind he sat up and ripped the IV's from his hand and arm, detaching the wires that were stuck to him, ignoring the shrill noises coming from the machines. Just as he was swinging his legs off the bed Gibbs opened his eyes and stared shocked at what his senior field agent was doing.


	17. Chapter 17

**Author's note: my writer's block had definitely gone so I thought I'd give two updates straight after each other. A few bits in the chapter might be a little disturbing but I hope you enjoy!!**

"Tony, what are you doing?" Gibbs asked, just as the door opened and Dr Cramer and a nurse rushed in.

"I need to go!" Tony exclaimed, resting his feet on the floor and trying to walk past Gibbs and the medical staff.

"Agent Dinozzo, I need you to get back into bed, you're in no fit state to be going anywhere," Dr Cramer said reaching for her patient before he collapsed.

Tony took a step away from the doctor bumping into the bed, his brain wasn't functioning properly so he didn't realise that they were trying to help.

"No, I need to leave, please, get out of the way."

"Listen to the doctor Tony, get back into bed," Gibbs replied, not sure what was going on his agent's head.

When Tony made no attempt to as he was asked Gibbs reached for him, intending to help him. As soon as Gibbs took hold of Tony, he was sent into the wall behind him as the agent lashed out.

"Don't touch me!" Tony exclaimed, going for the door again, pushing the nurse aside.

"Agent Dinozzo, I can't let you leave. You're not strong enough, if you leave this hospital then you will die!" the doctor attempted to reason with her patient, she really didn't want to have to use force.

"You can't keep me here, I'm not a prisoner!"

"Normally I would agree, but with someone as sick as you, I have an obligation to do whatever I can to help them. If I let you leave I won't be doing my job, and I'll use force to keep you here if I have to."

Gibbs was watching the exchange between his agent and the doctor and prayed that Tony would listen to her. He knew that Tony needed to be here and he would tie him down himself if necessary.

"Listen to her Tony, you need help."

Tony didn't know what to do, he was so confused, all he wanted was to go home and be left alone. If Gibbs hated him then why didn't he just let him leave, if he didn't care then why was he here. Because he wants to see you suffer, a little voice at the back of his mind said. They were trying to keep him there against his will, he'd just got out of one prison, and now he was in another. Tony decided that he'd had enough; he wanted out and out was where he was going to go.

"Let, me, passed," he said as calmly as possible.

"No," Dr Cramer said.

Tony moved forward, trying desperately to push her out of the way, but she was strong and she managed to hold him back. Gibbs knowing that he might hurt Tony, but knowing that they couldn't let him leave, grabbed him from behind and pulled him back towards the bed.

"I need some help in here," Dr Cramer called out to the hallway.

"Can't you give him something?" Gibbs asked, wanting his agent to calm down.

"The blood work hasn't come back yet, so I still don't know what's in his system. A sedative could do more harm than good."

"We have to do something, because I know Tony, and he's not going to stop until he gets what he wants."

"That's why I need your permission to restrain him."

"What?"

"The only way we can keep him here, and stop him from hurting himself or anyone else is to put him in soft restraints. As soon as he is calm, or I can sedate him they can come off."

Gibbs took in what the doctor was saying as he watched two orderlies trying to hold Tony down. Tony had been through a lot and tying him down would probably do more damage, but letting him leave would be fatal.

"Do it!"

"Nurse go and get them."

"Yes doctor."

She came back a few seconds later and she, the orderlies and Gibbs held Tony down as the doctor attached them.

"Please don't, don't do this!" Tony cried, trying desperately to get away.

Watching his agent and friend was breaking Gibbs's heart and he wished that he could do something to make everything ok.

"Agent Gibbs, I think it's best that you leave for a while, let agent Dinozzo calm down," Dr Cramer suggested, leading the older man from the room. "I know this is distressing to watch, but he'll be ok."

"Why did he get like that, it was like he didn't know who I was, what was going on."

"He's been through a terrible ordeal, and the brain can do strange things. He's also extremely weak which can have an effect on his state of mind. Deep down he knows he's safe and that everything's ok, but he hasn't got the strength to think coherently. This should pass once he gets a little stronger, but he'll have to see a therapist and it may take him a while to get over this."

* * *

The doctor stayed with Gibbs for a few minutes and recommended that he go home for a while. Gibbs shook his head when she had said that, he couldn't just leave Tony, not while he was in the state he was in. The doctor promised she'd come back in a little while to check on agent Dinozzo, and that it would probably be a good idea for Gibbs to wait until she came back before he went in. Gibbs agreed, and sat down on a chair near Tony's room, trying to take in everything that had happened.

"Gibbs, what are you doing out here?" Abby asked as she approached.

"I thought you went home Abs," Gibbs replied, not wanting to explain to Abby what had just happened.

"No, I just went to get a caf pow and get something to eat. So what are you doing out here, is Tony ok."

"Sit down Abs."

Abby looked at her boss curiously but did as she was asked, hoping that he wasn't going to tell her that Tony had gotten worse.

"Tony got agitated when he woke up, and he tried to leave."

"Leave!"

"Yeah Abs, he wanted to go, but we wouldn't let him and he got angry. He pushed me away, and a nurse and it took two orderlies to get him back to bed."

"Did the doc have to sedate him again?" Abby asked, cursing herself for leaving when she did.

"No Abs, she couldn't," Gibbs explained, wishing that he didn't have to tell her anymore. "She still doesn't know what drugs are in Tony's system so a sedative might have done more harm than good."

"Ok, so what did the doc do?"

"Abs, I don't want you to freak out!"

"What is it Gibbs."

"They had to put him in restraints."

"WHAT!" Abby cried, jumping out of her seat, not believing what she was hearing.

"Abby, calm down. I don't like it anymore than you do, but it was the only option we had that wouldn't hurt him."

"And you think being tied to a bed isn't going to hurt him."

"It was the only way Abs, we couldn't let him leave, and the doctor couldn't sedate him."

After a short pause Abby spoke. "I'm gonna go in."

"Abs…"

"Gibbs, he's all alone, he's been alone too much over the past week, he needs someone with him."

Gibbs nodded and let Abby go to Tony, wishing that he could go in but knowing that Tony needed to calm down first.

"Abs, you don't take them off, no matter how much he begs you to."

"I won't Gibbs, I don't like it, but I'll go along with it."

* * *

Abby opened the door and tried hard not to let the image in front of her get to her. Tony was lying partially on his side, his knees brought up to his chest, his hands were tied to the rails and even though the restraints were soft so as not to hurt him they were still restraints.

"Tony," Abby said quietly, walking towards her friend slowly.

Tony turned his head to the voice, recognising it immediately. "Abs?"

"Yeah Tony, it's me."

"Will you help me Abs?"

"I want to, but I can't take those off," she said, pointing to the restraints. "Why did you go all crazy earlier Tony, what's wrong?"

"I'm scared!" Tony admitted, turning onto his other side so he was facing Abby.

"Of what Tony?"

"Gibbs," he whispered.

"Gibbs? Why would you… Gibbs loves you!"

"He hates me," Tony said, shaking his head.

"Why would you think that?"

"He told me!"

"Gibbs?"

"No, he hasn't said it."

"Your father?"

Tony nodded, hoping that Abby would help him.

"Tony, your father was lying, Gibbs loves you, and he's been so worried about you. Whatever Carlos Dinozzo said was a lie; I want you to believe that.

"I… I don't know what to think Abs."

Abby ran her fingers through Tony's hair, wanting so badly to kick seven bells out of Tony's father.

"If I get the doctor to take these off, do you promise to stay put and do as you're told?"

"If you stay with me."

"Of course I'll stay," Abby replied, pressing the call button.

A few minutes later Dr Cramer came in, and after having assurances from both Tony and Abby that he would stay and do as he was told, she took the restraints off.

"I want you to know that I only used them to help you, I would never intentionally hurt a patient."

"I know doc."

Dr Cramer left, and Abby got up beside Tony on the bed, pulling him into a hug. They talked for a little while, and Tony told Abby some of the things his father had said, listening as Abby tried desperately to reassure him that it was all lies.

"Are you ok now?" Abby asked.

"I'm not sure Abs."

"I think I should go and get Gibbs," Abby suggested.

"No!"

"It's ok Tony, Gibbs won't hurt you, I promise."

"Don't leave."

"Ok, I'll just have to yell," Abby replied. "GIBBS!"

A minute later Gibbs came through the door, wondering what was going on.

"Come here," Abby said, motioning Gibbs to the bed. She then kissed Tony on the forehead and got down from the bed. "Take my place."

"What?"

"Take my place, Tony needs to know you care," Abby replied, pointing to the bed that she'd just got off. When Gibbs didn't move Abby spoke again. "GO!"

Gibbs nodded and got onto the bed, feeling Tony's shaking body next to his. He sat as close as he could get and put his arm around him pulling him close. Gibbs wasn't much for affection, but Tony needed some, and Gibbs wasn't going to let him down.

"Tony's father told him that you hated him. He told him that we were glad he was gone, and that we'd called off the search. That we were already thinking of replacing him and that he was all alone with no one to care about him," Abby told Gibbs, hoping it would explain what had happened earlier.

"Bastard," Gibbs muttered, really wishing Tony's father was alive so he could beat the crap out of him. "Tony, none of that is true. I've never told you this before, but you're like a son to me, and when you went missing, that was one of the worst moments in my life. You forget anything that man said to you, I love you, we all love you. Ok!"

Tony nodded his head; content to just lay snuggled next to Gibbs, feeling safe and secure. His boss never really showed affection, and he was glad that he'd finally found out the truth.


	18. Chapter 18

**Author's note: i really appreciate all the reviews they definitely make me write faster!! i'm not sure how long this fics got left, but i've got another one in mind so i may start that before i finish this!! watch this space **

Tony fell asleep shortly after his heart to heart with Gibbs and Abby, which left the two of them to take in what had just happened.

"How could his father do that to him Gibbs?" Abby asked, sitting down on a chair by Tony's bed.

"Because he was a sick bastard Abs, and Tony's going to be better of now he's dead."

"Have you told him?"

"Told him what Abs?"

"That his father's dead!"

"No, I'll wait till he's a little stronger."

Abby nodded, trying to hide her yawns at the same time, but Gibbs noticed.

"Go home and get some sleep Abs, you've been here for a while."

"I'm ok," she replied, yawning again.

"Go, we'll be fine."

"Ok, but call me if Tony needs me, or something happens."

"I will Abs."

So Abby left the hospital to shower and sleep while Gibbs stayed with Tony, moving from the bed to the chair, which was slightly more uncomfortable. The rest of the night went by with out any incidents, and Tony woke up refreshed the next morning.

"Morning Tony, how are you feeling?" Gibbs asked, hoping that he was going to get a positive answer.

"Better, I'm still really sore, and I'm still getting used to being out of that basement. But I'm ok, I hope," Tony replied, looking over at his boss as he was speaking.

Gibbs pressed the call button before he spoke, wanting to get Tony some more pain relief. "You sure you feel ok, it was a rough night."

"I'm ok, and I'm sorry about last night, I don't know what was wrong with me."

"It's ok, you've been through a lot and you're mind and body need time to recover."

Tony nodded, a little embarrassed now that he remembered what had happened the night before.

"Morning agent Dinozzo, agent Gibbs," Dr Cramer said as she walked into the room.

"Morning," the both replied.

"How are you feeling Tony?" Dr Cramer asked, approaching the bed.

"I'm ok."

"He's in a bit of pain, can you give him something," Gibbs said, knowing that Tony wasn't going to ask.

"Of course," the doctor agreed moving towards Tony and taking a syringe out of her pocket.

Tony moved away slightly when he saw the needle, even though he knew that it wasn't going to hurt him. As the doctor brought the needle closer he began shaking and Dr Cramer stopped and looked at her patient.

"It's just a painkiller, I promise, and it'll go straight into your IV, no injecting into the skin."

Tony nodded trying to get control of the panic, grateful when Gibbs put a comforting hand on his shoulder and whispered that everything was ok.

The doctor managed to insert the needle and empty the contents, knowing that she would have to be careful next time she had to inject something.

"I got your blood work back Tony and any drugs that were in your system have left now, and they won't have any lasting affects. I also looked at your x-rays and they're doing ok, so a few more doses of antibiotics and your lungs will be good as new."

"Thanks doc," Tony said, glad that there wouldn't be any lasting damage.

"I'll leave you to it."

The doctor left and soon after Abby arrived back again.

"You need to rest too Gibbs, so I'll keep Tony company while you go home and grab forty winks."

After a little gently persuasion he agreed and left Tony and Abby to it, going home to clean up and get at least a few hours of sleep.

* * *

Gibbs didn't sleep for very long, instead he went back to NCIS to tie up a few loose ends. Arriving at the bullpen he found Kate and McGee at their desks and agent Fornell by his.

"Fornell, what're you doing here?" Gibbs asked as he approached.

"I've come to take the men you arrested yesterday, they're civilians Jethro, so that makes them mine I'm afraid," Fornell replied, waiting for Gibbs to blow his top.

"I know they're yours Fornell, and I was going to phone you, after I'd done the interviews."

Surprised that Gibbs was playing fair, Fornell decided to let him interview Andrea Downing; the others were already ready for transport.

"How is Dinozzo?" Fornell asked.

"He's getting there, definitely better than he was when we found him."

They walked to interrogation, walking in to find Miss Downing was already there.

"Did you find him?" was the first thing she said.

"Yeah, we did," Gibbs replied, sitting down.

"And, he was alive?"

"Barely, but yeah, he's ok."

"Good, that's good."

"Do you want to tell us what's been happening Miss Downing?" Gibbs asked, wanting to know why the woman had hurt his agent.

"I met Carlos before he went to prison, and he helped me out with something's, one thing he did was lend me money. When he went to prison it seemed he forgot all about me, and I moved eager to put it all behind me. A few weeks ago he showed up at my door, and told me that I owed him, and that he was there to collect. I told him I had no money, all I had was the house I had inherited and he told me that I could pay him back another way."

"By helping him get agent Dinozzo?" Fornell asked, standing behind Gibbs.

"Yes, he told me that all I would have to do was phone up NCIS and pretend to have information on the murder of the petty officer. When the agents came to my house I was supposed to slip something in their drinks and then that was it, my debt would have been paid. I knew it was wrong, but I knew that Carlos would kill me if I didn't help him!"

"Ok, I understand you doing this one thing for him, you felt it was the only thing you could do. But why didn't you come straight to us, tell us what was happening, and we could have protected you," Gibbs said, angered that this woman could have informed them at any time.

"Carlos told me that it would all be over once I spiked their drinks, but he lied. I was supposed to go with them until you'd finished your investigation at the house and then I was free to go, but it didn't work like that. The next day arrived and Carlos told me that NCIS would have finished collecting evidence and my house would be safe, but he told me that it didn't matter, as I wasn't going anywhere. He told me that he couldn't allow me to go to NCIS or the police, so I had to stay until it was all over with. I couldn't stand it, I was practically a prisoner, but it was worse for agent Dinozzo, I could hear him screaming, and begging Carlos to stop. I couldn't take it and all I wanted to do was get away and come here. Yesterday was the first chance I had, Carlos let me go into town with one of the men and I managed to give him the slip. I then came straight here."

Gibbs and Fornell took in the woman's speech knowing that she was telling them the truth and realising that she was just as much a victim as agent Dinozzo.

"Did you catch Carlos?" Miss Downing asked.

"He's dead, you won't have to worry about him anymore," Gibbs replied, standing up so that he could end the interview.

"I may not have to worry about him, but he has friends, they're everywhere, no one's ever safe if they have anything to do with him."

Gibbs thought about that statement for a minute, hoping that no one would try and hurt Tony again.

"One more thing Miss Downing, how many men were involved in the kidnapping," Agent Fornell asked, hoping that they had them all.

"A lot of Carlos's men knew about it, but there was only him and another three who were directly involved."

"We only arrested two men at the cabin, a Jake Mouton and a Carl Dobbs, do you know who the third was?"

"Andrew Bates, he was the one who went to town with me, you must have got to the cabin just before he did."

"Thank you Miss Downing."

Gibbs and Fornell left the room, both pissed that they hadn't gotten all the men.

"We need to find him Tobias, I don't want him going anywhere near Tony again."


	19. Chapter 19

Tony and Abby had been talking on and off since Gibbs had left and now Tony had fallen back to sleep, so exhausted after his ordeal. Abby sat patiently by her friend's bed, wishing that she had something to do. Part of her wanted Tony to wake up so she'd have someone to talk to, but she knew he needed his rest or he wouldn't get better.

"Excuse me, I've just come to check agent Dinozzo over," a nurse said as he walked up beside the bed.

"Sure, don't mind me," Abby replied, thinking that she could chat to the man as he worked.

"I'm afraid you'll have to wait outside miss, hospital procedure."

"Oh, ok," Abby said slowly, not wanting to leave Tony. "I don't want to sound rude but is their a female nurse who can do this, its just Tony had some problems when he was brought in and I don't think he'll like this."

"We're short staffed today, so I'm the only one available. Agent Dinozzo's asleep so he won't even know I'm here, I let you know once I'm done."

Abby nodded and left the room, being sure to stay nearby, in case Tony should wake up and get agitated.

"Wake up Anthony, it's time for your injection," the man Andrew Bates whispered, shaking Tony's shoulders slightly when he didn't respond.

Tony slowly opened his eyes, wondering what was going on, and immediately came face to face with a man he wished he'd never see again. He opened his mouth to shout out but Andrew pressed his hand down covering it.

"Now now, we don't want to attract any attention."

Tony was trying hard to breath through his nose, but his panic wasn't helping him any and he was terrified that he was going to suffocate. He began to try and push Andrew off of him, but the man was far stronger and Tony only managed to hurt himself. Andrew knew that he needed to be quick with his plan, so he punched Tony in the stomach, and then in the face rendering him semi conscious. He then pulled a syringe out of his pocket and reached down for the IV, it was time to finish off Anthony Dinozzo once and for all.

Outside Abby was pacing, wondering how much longer the nurse was going to take.

"Miss Scuito?" a woman asked.

"Yes."

"You have a phone call at the nurses station."

"Thank you," Abby replied, thinking it was probably Gibbs or Ducky wanting an update. She walked quickly to the phone and brought it too her ear. "You've reached Abby."

"Abs, how's Tony?" Gibbs asked, getting straight to the point.

"I'm good thanks Gibbs and you, oh I'm fine Abby…"

"ABS!"

"Ok ok, Tony's fine, his with the nurse and he was sleeping when I left so it should go smoothly."

"Why wouldn't it go smoothly?"

"Because the nurse is male, and you know how Tony got…."

"Abs get in the right now, I don't think it's a nurse."

Abby didn't answer as she was already on her way to Tony's room before Gibbs finished his sentence. She burst the door open and screamed at what she saw, the 'nurse' was hovering over a distraught Tony with a syringe in his hand.

"SECURITY! CALL SECURITY!" Abby cried, rushing towards the man, intending to get him away from her friend. "GET AWAY FROM HIM YOU BASTARD, HAVEN'T YOU DONE ENOUGH!"

"You can't stop me, say goodbye," Andrew said, the syringe mere millimetres away from the IV port.

"FREEZE," a man said from the doorway, pointing his security issue gun at the man. "Drop the syringe and put your hands on your head."

Andrew looked from the security guard to agent Dinozzo, and decided that it wasn't worth dieing over. He did as the guard told him, and he was soon being lead away in cuffs, straight into the path of Gibbs and Fornell. Gibbs completely bypassed the man, needing to know that Tony was ok, while Fornell stopped to talk to the security guard.

"Tony?" Gibbs questioned as he reached his agents room.

"He's ok," Abby said, perching on the side of the bed and running her fingers soothingly through Tony's hair. "I think."

"I just… I… I wasn't… expecting it," Tony said slowly, his breathing almost back to normal.

"I'm sorry Tony, I shouldn't have assumed that we'd arrested everyone that was involved, I screwed up," Gibbs replied, approaching his agent.

"No, Gibbs you didn't, you saved me, and you're here now."

"I was almost too late."

"But you weren't. I'm ok."


	20. Chapter 20

After Tony was looked over by the doctor and given some more painkillers for the latest injuries, he asked a question that Gibbs had been dreading.

"What happened to my father?"

Gibbs didn't answer straight away, not knowing how to break the news; even though Tony's father had been evil he was still his father.

"He's dead Tony."

Tony took in the news, not sure what he should be thinking. Ninety nine percent of him was pleased, he didn't have to worry about the man anymore and he could get on with his life. But there was that one percent that stuck out; the part of his brain that said the man was still his father.

"Oh!" was all he managed to get out before he rolled over, not wanting Gibbs and Abby to see his mixed emotions.

Gibbs and Abby shared a look, one that said he didn't take that as I expected, and what should we do now.

"I'm sorry Tony," Abby said, not sure whether that was the right thing to say.

"Why? It's not like it's a great loss!"

"He was a bastard, and he didn't care about you, but he was still family to you. He was the last of your family Tony, and part of you is bound to be upset," Gibbs replied, sitting on the bed behind his agent.

"You're not mad!"

"Mad?"

"Because I feel a little upset, because I know I shouldn't."

"Sshhh I'm not mad, it's ok to be upset, and me and Abs, we're here if you wanna talk."

Tony nodded his head; tears tracking their way down his cheeks, wishing that his father could have been more like Gibbs.

Gibbs heard the tears, and comforted his agent as best he could, rubbing his hand up and down Tony's back in a calming gesture.

"I thought I'd never get out," Tony said, so quietly that his two friends almost didn't here him.

"I'm sorry we didn't find you sooner," Gibbs apologised, his hand stopping in its motion and resting on Tony's shoulder.

"The first few days I could handle the pain, because I knew that you'd be looking, I knew you never left a man behind and that I just had to wait it out. Then my father told me you'd stopped looking, that you didn't care, and I was never going to see anyone but him ever again. I tried to ignore him, think positively, but it hurt so much, and I couldn't do it. I gave up boss, I gave up!"

"It's ok Tony, it's not your fault, you tried your best and I'm proud of you for sticking it out for so long."

Tony turned suddenly to face Gibbs, causing a pain to lance through his abdomen. He tried to ignore it and spoke to Gibbs instead.

"You're…. You're proud of me?"

"Yeah Tony, I'm proud of you."

Tony smiled at Gibbs, knowing that he meant it, and that it was a once in a lifetime opportunity, he probably wouldn't be hearing it again.

"You're looking tired, we should probably go," Gibbs said, getting up from his position on the bed.

"No, I'm fine, I've been asleep far to much. Stay, please!"

"Hey, you're safe now, no one else is going to pay you an unauthorised visit," Abby replied, trying to comfort her friend.

"I know, it's just…"

"Just what Tony?" Gibbs asked.

"I don't wanna go to sleep, and I don't wanna wake up and there be no one here."

"We'll stay, and we can have a talk, if you want," Gibbs answered, sitting back down.

"Ok."

**Author's note: sorry this is short but I wasn't sure what to write next and it's getting a bit late. I'll try and update tomorrow, if not it'll be the weekend!!**


	21. Chapter 21

**Author's note: hey guys this fics coming to an end now I'm afraid, as I've run out of ideas at the mo. I may do a sequel if people want one but at the moment I've got another fic started so I'll concentrate on that. Hope you all enjoyed my first NCIS fic and please reply to this last chapter!!**

At NCIS headquarters McGee and Kate were finishing up their paperwork for the day, both debating whether they should go and see Tony.

"Hey Kate, do you think we should go and see Tony?" McGee asked, walking towards her desk.

"I'm not sure, I want to but…" Kate trailed off.

"But what?"

"I've never seen Tony the way we did after we found him, I mean the Tony I know is strong, funny and isn't afraid of anything. It scares me."

"I know what you mean, when we were at the hospital and he had that nightmare I didn't know what to do. I don't want to go and see him, and then find that I don't know what to say!"

"Exactly, and we don't want to upset him."

"But won't not going upset him more?" a voice asked from the direction of the elevator.

"How do you mean Ducky," McGee replied, glad that the ME was there to help them decide.

"His father got it in to Anthony's head that we didn't care, that we'd called off the search and that we were pleased that he wasn't around anymore."

"Bastard, but Tony can't believe that!" McGee exclaimed.

"When someone says something to you enough times, you start to believe it, even though deep down you know it isn't true."

"So if we don't go and see him, then he'll think his father was right, that we don't care," Kate said, hating the man even more than she had done. "God, I'm glad he's dead!"

"He would have suffered more in jail," McGee added.

"I'm not so sure of that Timothy, it seems Mr Carlos Dinozzo had as high connections in prison as out. And you have to remember that he's been in prison before, but he came out and took Anthony, what would stop him from doing the same thing," Ducky replied, seething on the inside over Anthony's father.

"Does Tony know his father's dead?" Kate asked, and after a nod from Ducky she continued. "How did he take it?"

"Jethro told me that Anthony was a little upset, but mostly relieved that the man wouldn't hurt him anymore."

They all stood for a minute, thinking about the effect a father could have on a son, and praying that Tony got through his ordeal.

"Are we going then?" McGee asked, wanting to see Tony as soon as possible.

"Definitely!" Kate replied. "Although, won't he be asleep, it's late."

"Jethro told me that he was awake and in need of visitors, so, shall we go."

* * *

"So, when do I get out of here?" Tony asked innocently an hour after McGee, Kate and Ducky arrived.

"You're still hurt Tony, you'll probably be here for a while yet I'm afraid," Gibbs replied, knowing that his agent was lagging and trying to ware him out enough so he'd go to sleep.

"I hate hospitals!" Tony exclaimed, glad that all his friends were with him.

When Kate, McGee and Ducky had failed to show up for a while, Tony started to have his doubts about people caring about him. He tried hard not to believe them but he found himself wondering, so when they had arrived it was like a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders. They had asked how he was and he had lied, telling them he was sore but ok, which was far from the truth and everyone knew it. They'd then talked about random things, trying to steer the subject away from Tony and his father. Abby had fallen asleep curled next to Tony, and it was nice to feel her warm body next to his. He wasn't meaning that in a sexy way, it was just that he'd been alone and cold for so long that he'd forgotten what warmth was. Tony loved Abby to bits, but it wasn't that type of love, it was more like overprotective big brother/best friend love, he'd do anything for her, or any of his team. Just like they would for him, like they had done for him, now and in the past. They were a family, a little dysfunctional, but a family none the less.

**THE END**


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